D&D 5E WotC's Nathan Stewart Teases New D&D Setting Book in 2019

No real details, other than denying that it will be Spelljammer, but in the latest Spoilers & Swag episode Stewart stated straight up that another hardcover setting book is coming in 2019:

"Nathan Stewart, the senior director of Dungeons & Dragons and Avalon Hill, made the announcement on his monthly "Spoilers & Swag" Twitchcast yesterday. 'Next year for our annual releases I can confirm there will be a setting book,' he said. 'A new setting book. A book that we have not created that is for a D&D setting.'"

I'd speculate, given the Settings mentioned in the recent marketing survey and what is listed in the DMsGuild, that the likely options are from the following, given we got Magic this year and Stewart has previously said they are not working on a new setting right now:

- Dark Sun
- Dragonlance
- Eberron
- Greyhawk
- Planescape
- Ravenloft

https://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/11/03/dungeons-and-dragons-new-campaign-setting-book-2019/

 

[Jer]

Doubtful that they are referring to the Isle of Dread book.

That book is reprinting the entire original, however, and looks to have an essay by Lawrence Schick about the original of the Known World in the Kent State game he was in with Tom Moldvay.

I hadn't heard about the essay.

Do you know if it's supposed to be a new essay? A few years back he posted on his blog about he and Moldvay and the Known World and if it's just repurposing that then okay, but if he has more to say then I might have to buy the book even though I already own 3 copies of X1...

(The link to the original essay for the curious is: https://www.blackgate.com/2015/02/07/the-known-world-dd-setting-a-secret-history/ - it's a great glimpse back into the early days.)

 

[delericho]

Maybe I'm the only one, but I find this teasing and hinting Wizards does to be irritating and terrible marketing.

You're certainly not alone in finding it irritating. If they have something to tell us, I wish they'd just tell us. If they don't, I wish they'd not say anything.

But whether or not it's "terrible marketing" I can't say. 5e seems to be doing okay-ish, which suggests they're doing something right.

 

[guachi]

The something for me was the free online Basic Rules. In 2014 I was looking to get back into gaming and was looking for discussion forums (like this one!) to read up on 4e. It so happened that 5e was upcoming and the Basic Rules had either been released or would soon be released.

That was good marketing. As it turns out, the Basic Rules were cut and pasted directly from the PHB (not that I knew it at the time). I fell in love right away and was excited after being away from D&D and gaming from 2001 to early 2014.

And then Lost Mines of Phandelver wowed me as being a great module.

I wasn't around for the D&D Next stuff so none of whatever marketing they did had any effect on me whatsoever.

 

[Parmandur]

I hadn't heard about the essay.

Do you know if it's supposed to be a new essay? A few years back he posted on his blog about he and Moldvay and the Known World and if it's just repurposing that then okay, but if he has more to say then I might have to buy the book even though I already own 3 copies of X1...

(The link to the original essay for the curious is: https://www.blackgate.com/2015/02/07/the-known-world-dd-setting-a-secret-history/ - it's a great glimpse back into the early days.)

No idea if it is a new essay, but it is in there.

 

[Parmandur]

That is really bad advice on his part. For one thing most of the NPCs are dead.

Many of the nations are different. If you read the SCAG and compare it to the previous edition books you will see a lot of things that don't fit together.

Dead, unless the DM wants them to be alive. As tools for play, they do the work.

 

[Jester David]

Based on several of the clues out there (the new IDW comic coming this spring about seafsfing on the Sea of Swords, the giant pirate ship mini from WizKids, the clues about Lantan in recent adventures, etc.) I'm betting the next storyline is about being at sea along the Sword Coast still. Areas beyond the Sword Coast are still doable on an AP-by-AP basis.

Whenever I see statements like this I always think of:

View attachment 102856



But, seriously, they have a shotgun approach to clues. You can make a reliable argument for Lantan, The Great Modron March, Pirates, Slavers, Spelljammer, Barrier Peaks, and more.
There's the clues for the next couple adventures, the stuff that's just Easter Eggs/ references but could become a clue, the stuff that's just them trolling, and more.

(I do think pirates as well, but who knows?)

I've seen Perkins direct people to the Grey Box or 3E FRCG on the D sGuild as still being relevant for 5E purposes. SCAG is almost certainly it as far as their setting guide plans.

Well, yeah. Because lore doesn't need updates.
A similar statement could be made of the 3e Eberron book, the 1e Dragonlance book, the 1e Greyhawk folio, etc. We don't really need an update of any campaign setting. At best we just need a PoD book on the Guild.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Well, yeah. Because lore doesn't need updates.
A similar statement could be made of the 3e Eberron book, the 1e Dragonlance book, the 1e Greyhawk folio, etc. We don't really need an update of any campaign setting. At best we just need a PoD book on the Guild.

Well, it does need a little updating if there is a time jump from edition to edition, as happens with the Realms. Also, unlike other D&D worlds, it is a living world and time advances there. Without digging out the books to verify, isn't there something like 100 years that the Realms was advanced when moving from 4E to 5E? Also, because of the tie-in to Adventurer's League play, the Realms year advances with our real world year, so the Realms is now 4 years older than it was in 2014.

 

[Stormonu]

Don't forget the possibility Dark Sun could return (again), which is what I'm hoping for.

Also, I'd like to see a return to Jakandor, but that was a pretty niche product. There is also Birthright - which was a pretty good idea for a setting (just with a lot of unpronounceable words). Red Steel/Savage Coast and Hollow World had some fair development (more than The Horde), and both were distinct from standard Mystra they could be mined for the future. Hopefully, Council of Wyrms will stay dead, but I wish they could turn that setting on its ear to produce a sort-of Eragon dragon-rider world where the PC's are linked to dragon mount/companions.

Finally, don't forget that they once did a Diablo II RPG; somebody might dig that one out of the closet...

 

[DQDesign]

Finally, don't forget that they once did a Diablo II RPG; somebody might dig that one out of the closet...

they did Diablo I for AD&D 2nd edition and Diablo II for D&D 3.0. I would be very very pleased to see a 5E Diablo III book, but I think it is just as probable as seeing a 5E Mystara CS

 

[gyor]

Dead, unless the DM wants them to be alive. As tools for play, they do the work.

Then it's homebrew not the 5e realms. All it does is cause confusion, it's easy way not to finish the job they started. It's time for a proper Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide style book, finish what they started, then move onto other books.